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Dutch elite cyclist pulls out of World Cup event in Australia after allegedly attacking two teenage girls playing ‘knock-and-run’ on his hotel door the night before the race
- Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel withdraws from World Cup race
- He has been accused of assaulting two teenage girls in Wollongong, NSW
- The 27-year-old is in Australia for the UCI Road World Championships
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A Dutch cyclist sensationally withdrew from a world championship road race on Sunday after she was accused of assaulting two teenage girls.
Mathieu van der Poel, 27, will appear in court after he was arrested and charged hours before the race, where he was one of the title favorites for the 2022 UCI Road World Championships – a 266.9km race to be held in Wollongong, south of Sydney.
Police allege the athlete physically confronted the 13- and 14-year-old girls at Brighton’s Novotel Le Sands on Saturday night because they played a prank on his door while he was trying to sleep before the race.
Officers from Sydney’s St George Command confiscated Van der Poel’s passport before his performance at Sutherland Court on September 27 after they charged him twice with assaulting a child.
The rider who did not leave the police until 4 a.m. withdrew an hour from the race from exhaustion.
Mathieu van der Poel (on the right in the photo with his girlfriend Roxanne Bertels) will be in court in Sydney on Tuesday
“I went to bed early and many children in the hallway of my room found it necessary to knock on the door continuously,” he told Belgium’s Sporza website before the start of the race.
‘After a few times I was done with it. I didn’t kindly ask to stop. Then the police were called and I was taken away.
‘I wasn’t back in my room until four o’clock. That is certainly not ideal. It’s a disaster, but I can’t change anything anymore.’
NSW police allege that Van der Poel pushed the two girls, causing one to fall over and the other to crash into a wall with a minor abrasion to her elbow.
“The hotel management was informed of the incident, who then called the police,” a NSW police spokesperson said in a statement.
“Officers from the St. George Police Command were on hand and arrested a 27-year-old man shortly afterwards.”
Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands drives over the Sea Cliff Bridge during the elite men’s road race at the World Road Cycling Championships in Wollongong, Australia, Sunday, September 25, 2022
Mathieu van der Poel (in the photo with his girlfriend Roxanne Bertels) is accused of assaulting two children
Van der Poel was taken to the Kogarah police station where he remained until 4:00 am, after which the race started at 10:15 am.
Despite only sleeping for a few hours, Van der Poel stared at the race but stopped at about 11am.
He has been released on bail and will appear in court in Sutherland on Tuesday.
The four-time cyclocross world champion and 2013 junior road race world champion was one of the favorites to win the rainbow jersey.